017 The Decision To Finish

We dig into why creative projects stay unfinished even when we have solid habits and real ambition.
• the moment finishing turns into a single decision 
• why most creatives overestimate timelines and burn out 
• building a flexible creative system
• using deadlines and constraints to beat tinkering and paralysis 
• enjoying the verb not the noun so the process stays sustainable 
• strengthening resolve with Parkinson’s law and practical self-management 
• choosing done over perfection to get more reps and better work 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Why Projects Stay Unfinished

Richmond 0:02

You have systems in place and habits you're following regularly. Why then is your project left unfinished? This was a recent realization of mine, and today I'll share this with you. Let's unwrap it. Hi, you're listening to Pockets, a podcast about finding joy, meaning, and purpose in life's simplest moments. I'm Richmond Camero. Let's dive into today's journey.

Richmond 0:42

What's a story without its ending? I'm a writer, but finishing a book is very difficult. My latest manuscript, the gentleman's code, took me three years to finish. Three years. And I think it would have taken longer if not for the push I needed. I wrote the last few chapters of this in a day and it was a frenzy. You know the feeling of that last lap, of that final push of adrenaline to finish a race. You're tired and no more energy to spend, but you have to finish. You want to finish. That was the feeling that I had when finishing this novel. And after the elation and the battle, I had a realization. All it took for me to finish was a decision. But before we get to that, let's dissect why it's hard to finish. We've all been there, regardless of what creative endeavor we pursue. We have our dreams of creating our artworks, being in art markets, composing the songs, and finishing a book. But the amount of work needed to get there is a lot. As humans, we're not good at estimating. We tend to overestimate what we can do in a year. Which leads us to the first reason why it's difficult to finish.

Systems And Deadlines That Work

Richmond 2:15

We don't have the proper system. When I say system, it's the habit that we build, the time dedicated for our projects, and the rituals that we create around it. It also includes our negotiables and non-negotiables in our practice. My system has evolved through the years, but I have devised a system that treads the balance of flexibility and accountability. Especially the flexibility. There would be days where I wouldn't feel like writing. But just like exercise, it is more important to do a bad workout than not to show up at all. So I show up, even though I can only churn out a sentence or spend a few minutes. The second reason why it's difficult to finish is that we don't have the constraints. Let's talk first about the most common constraint time. With my system, I have developed the habit of writing regularly. However, it still took me a couple of years to finish my manuscript. What I was missing was a deadline. Like my publisher Kath always says, dreams should have deadlines. Yes, even our dreams and passions will benefit from the constraints. Without the constraint in time, we might be productive in terms of how regular we're creating, but we might not create the final product of our projects. Another constraint that also keeps us from finishing is something subtle. It's the lack of creative constraint. Think of it as adding layers and layers of side plots in your story, editing your painting too much, or adding too many effects in your digital illustration. It's tinkering too much with your art that it doesn't reach the end state. It is with constraints where creativity is born. Let's say we limit ourselves to a particular color when painting, or a particular plot point in writing. We'll find a way to figure things out and be creative with our approach. Having a lot of options can cause us analysis paralysis and decision fatigue. So it's not always a good thing. We as creatives must also work with our constraints. Lastly, the reason why we don't finish is that we don't decide to finish. The difficult thing about the creative pursuit is that it is solitary. We can only rely on ourselves to make progress in our projects. It's not like a normal day job where a manager would follow up or our lack of action would cause a problem in the business. So when we miss a deadline in our creative projects, it's easier to say that it's okay. We are not strict about how we manage ourselves. I'm guilty of that and the lack of resolve to actually finish.

Fall In Love With The Process

Richmond 5:28

But before I get to how we finish, let's talk about why we started in the first place. You can say that you chose creativity or that creativity chose you. Whatever way you think of it, creativity is our life. I believe that somewhere in the past we had our own calling. Sometime before there was a guiding wind that made us take the first step. We saw the potential, what we could be. So we made the lifelong commitment of creating an art that only we are meant to do. That is the dream. For each of us, it comes in different forms. But this dream is why we keep going. This dream is why we want to create or finish something. My first realization on how I can be closer to that dream is to enjoy the verb, not the noun. This was difficult for me before as a writer. Do I really want to write? Or do I just want the idea of having written? Am I writing because I enjoy the intricate process of weaving stories? Or am I just excited about the possibility of seeing my book in the shelves and best selling list? It's not bad, of course, and it's actually helpful to keep the end in mind. But not allowing ourselves to be immersed in the process will keep us from finishing a project. Being too attached with the end product might distort our expectations of how hard work is done. And I think as creatives, it is important to acknowledge that doing art is hard. It takes time, repetition, and consistency to be able to achieve the end product we dreamed of. So if we don't enjoy how we do it, it would take longer for us to finish.

Rest, Resolve, And Finishing Strong

Richmond 7:28

The second guidance for finishing is to trust the creative system we built and follow it. This is related to the previous point on enjoying what we do. Our systems are in place to keep us going. As I mentioned previously, it would take a while and a lot of experimentation to create a system that works for us. I like to read and watch productivity topics. So my system starts with adopting things that I find interesting. Pomodoro, notion templates to track what I do, a schedule that I try to keep. And as I try those, I learn how to tailor those processes to what really works for me. In addition to this, I'd like to emphasize that it's also important to include and honor the concept of rest in our system. I'm not good yet with how to rest and recover from creative hard work, but I realized recently that it's also important to give space for rest. As a practical example, the Pomodoro technique is designed to have a period of work and a period of rest. Normally, I would skip the break time in between the focus sessions. When I was finishing my manuscript and was in frenzy mode, I realized that those couple of minutes give me enough headspace to recharge and start the next session with a renewed mindset. So honor your systems, both for work and for rest. And the last point, build your resolve to finish. Let's unpack this one and give it substance. Starting with a quote from Henry Ford Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right. What I'd like to point out in this is the power of thought. If we say we'll do it tomorrow, we're right. If we say we can finish today, we're also right. How we manage our creative work is a series of small decisions like this one. So how we shift our perspective affects our approach. Another principle that I'd also like to bring is the Parkinson's law. It says work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. If we have a project and we say that we'll finish it in six months, we'll fill those months with different layers of work. But if we say we'll finish that same project in a month, we'll be more creative and find ways to finish it. It takes our commitment to finish to devise ways on how to approach it. And if those guiding principles aren't enough, we can turn to pain. Either we choose the pain of knowing there's still work to be done versus the pain of doing the work. I don't know about you, but I get anxious when I think about the things that I still need to do in order to finish my projects. Sometimes I let that sit, but in most cases I decide and do my best to finish. Perfection is the enemy of done. As creatives, we aim to give our best work. At the same time, we can only do that if we have enough reps. That is why it is important to finish our work, analyze and learn from what we did, and apply those learnings in a new project. That repetition and consistency is what would bring us closer to our magnum opus. The life's work we've always dreamed of.